


Magic

by alchemicink



Category: Fruits Basket
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Ghosts, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 00:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21262250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alchemicink/pseuds/alchemicink
Summary: Kyo helps Tohru get ready for Halloween





	Magic

**Author's Note:**

> I had the idea for this bit of fluff a couple of months ago, and I'm so excited to finally share it. It's amazing I'm getting to post it at all considering my laptop died this week lol. Anyway, hope you all enjoy! 
> 
> This is set in my post-canon headcanon where Kyo teaches at a dojo and Tohru works at a library. ^_^

"What do you think?" 

Kyo looks up from the pot simmering on the stove to see Tohru walk into the kitchen wearing a black dress, a shimmery thin cape, and a pointy black hat. She's holding their broom in her hand, but not in a way that looks like she's about to tackle some housework. 

"You look cute," he answers, stirring the contents of the pot so it doesn't burn. A few months ago, when they first moved out here away from everyone they've ever known, he would have been too shy to say something like this to her directly. But the more time they spend together, the more comfortable he feels being honest with his feelings. She opens up about her thoughts and dreams and feelings so often, he wants to get better at doing the same. 

"But what is it?" he adds with a hint of curiosity about the unusual outfit.

"I'm a witch," Tohru giggles, gesturing her arms in the air like it should be obvious. She sets the broom down and joins him at the stove, looking to see if there's anything she can do to help with dinner. 

"Halloween is coming up soon, so I'm getting my costume ready," she says, leaning away from the stove now that she seems satisfied he can finish the food without assistance. 

"I didn't know you liked that sort of thing," he replies. They'd never celebrated the holiday at Shigure's house. 

Tohru smiles brightly, the kind of smile that permeates every part of her face, displaying her enthusiasm for the whole world to see even if Kyo's the only one here to witness it. She explains that the costume is for her work at the library, an upcoming Halloween-themed event for children that she's looking forward to helping with. 

"Just for fun," she adds after her explanation, "I got you a costume too." 

She disappears into the other room, and Kyo wonders why he's being included in the holiday celebration. But he's also kind of curious to see what she's picked out. 

Tohru returns with a heavy black cape, velvety red on the inside with a high collar at the top. 

"You're a vampire," she declares, holding up the costume proudly. 

Kyo isn't sure what he was expecting, but bloodthirsty creature of the night isn't it. Perhaps the concern shows on his face because her smile falters temporarily. 

"A vegetarian vampire!" she suddenly exclaims like she's trying to overcompensate for a terrible mistake. "A vegetarian vampire that only eats tomatoes! Not blood!" 

She waves her hands in the air, not realizing that she's making the cape flutter like a pair of bat wings. "You'd never drink someone's blood!" she continues with determined conviction, but then adds more softly, slightly embarrassed, "also, I forgot to get the fangs that go with the costume..."

Kyo chuckles at her antics, his worries melting away with the fading memories of a grotesque cat-like monster that'll never bother his life again. 

"Tomatoes are pretty good, but none in our dinner tonight though," he says to tease her a little. He cuts off the stove and then grabs some soup bowls out of the cabinet before he slips on the cape. It rests heavily on his shoulders and the collar tickles his jaw, but he doesn't mind too much if it makes Tohru happy. 

"Maybe next time we'll have tomatoes," Tohru laughs. She looks pleased at the way he suits the vampire cape.

"So what exactly will you be doing at the library thing?" Kyo asks. 

They settle down at their tiny kitchen table to eat, something that's recently become his favorite part of the day. It's comforting to be able to sit down together just like when they lived at Shigure's place. Talking about how work went, making plans for the weekend, sharing stories about messages received from friends far away now. It makes life feel... curse-free. 

"We're telling ghost stories," Tohru explains, somehow looking simultaneously excited and nervous in the way her eyes widen. "The stories aren't supposed to be too scary for the kids. At least, I- I hope so!" 

Kyo stifles a laugh at the sudden mental image of Tohru hiding behind a bookshelf while trying to listen to a children's ghost story. He still remembers how easily Tohru can be shaken by even mildly scary stuff. He'll probably never be able to forget that ill-fated trip through the haunted house where they got banned because of Hatsuharu's casual property destruction. 

That sudden old memory floating to the surface, however, gives him an idea. 

"Do we have any candles?" he asks. 

Tohru nods automatically and digs some out of a nearby kitchen drawer. Kyo takes the large candles and sets them in the middle of the table, and after he lights them up, he switches off the overhead light. 

The candles cast eerie flickering shadows onto the walls, and Kyo thinks it'd almost be creepy if the two of them weren't still wearing their cheesy Halloween costumes. 

"Let's tell a ghost story," he explains. "So you can prepare for the Halloween thing. We can just make one up because I don't really know any." 

Tohru nods excitedly, making the witch's hat on her head flop like it's in danger of falling off. 

"I'll start," Kyo says, pausing only a few seconds before he decides on how he'll begin. He doesn't have a knack for making up weird stuff like Haru can, but he can give it a shot. There's no one here to laugh at him if it goes terribly. 

"There once was a creepy old house deep in the forest. Nobody had lived in it for years, so plants and stuff had grown up all around it," he begins with the first thing that comes to mind because he figures every good ghost story should set the mood with an old haunted house. 

He envisions a house like Shigure's except the wood is rotten and broken, and thick green vines spread across the outside like a virus invading a body. A gust of wind rustling through the cracks probably sounds like a forlorn howl. 

"Almost everyone in the nearby town had forgotten about it."

Tohru nods, already looking intrigued. 

"But one day, a traveler from far away stumbled across the house..." His mind automatically imagines Yuki as the hapless traveler, which is slightly annoying, but he doesn't let it distract him. It's Tohru's turn to pick up the story, so he gestures for her to continue. 

Tohru taps her fingers on the table for a moment as she thinks about how to continue. 

"The traveler had been on a very long journey, and he was exhausted," she says. "But luckily he found the old house just when it started to rain, so he dashed inside the house to stay dry."

Kyo hides his smile as he visualizes Yuki trying (and failing) to dodge raindrops as he attempts to reach a dry sanctuary under the house's roof.

"He discovered that the inside of the house was very nice though also very, very dusty," Tohru adds. "So he decided he should clean it!"

"Clean it?" Kyo interrupts. He almost regrets casting Yuki in his mental version of the story now. He's heard the stories of what Shigure's house looked like before Tohru moved in. There's no way Yuki would volunteer to clean anything randomly. 

"Of course!" Tohru nods seriously, looking pleased with her plot idea. "He's just trying to be helpful." 

Kyo is pretty sure Tohru has already forgotten this is supposed to be a scary ghost story. So he jumps in to try to get them on track. 

"But while the traveler is cleaning," Kyo continues, "he hears some strange noises." 

"It's singing!" Tohru exclaims with enthusiasm, waving her spoon directly across the table at Kyo, looking unintentionally like a real witch trying to cast a spell with an impromptu wand.

"...Singing?" he repeats. 

"The weird noise was actually someone singing," she insists, defending her narrative choices. "So the traveler went to investigate and..." 

She gestures for Kyo to continue. 

Kyo scrambles for an idea. He shoves a giant bite of food into his mouth just to give him a few extra seconds to think about how to continue. Tohru giggles at his puffed up cheeks as he struggles to chew. 

In his mind, he pictures imaginary!Yuki searching all the rooms of the house for the source of the mysterious singing but finds nothing. 

"The traveler can't find the singer because it's actually... a ghost hiding in the walls," he concludes dramatically, gesturing towards the walls of their kitchen for emphasis. He's sure the flickering candlelight casting shadows on their faces makes it feel a little spookier too. Or he hopes so, at least. 

Tohru claps her hands her mouth. Now Kyo is positive she'd forgotten it was supposed to be a ghost story until this moment. 

"Is it... a friendly ghost?" she asks tentatively, worried, through a small gap between her hands. 

"Sure," he answers, because he doesn't actually want to scare her. "And the ghost and the traveler became good friends." 

He figures the ghost can be that Kakeru guy Yuki was always hanging out with at the Student Council meetings. 

Tohru removes her hands and breathes a heavy sigh of relief, which accidentally blows out the candles, plunging them into a sudden darkness. He scrambles blindly for a moment until he manages to flip the lightswitch back on. 

The look of worry on Tohru's face melts away and they both laugh as their kitchen is restored to its normal order.

"Maybe that's enough telling ghost stories for tonight," Kyo says, and Tohru nods, still looking amused. 

"Right!" she agrees. "But that was fun! We should do it again sometime." 

Dinner continues on like any other regular night except here they are this time, a fangless vampire and a witch without spells. Though Kyo knows Tohru has her own unique magic, something that heals deep old wounds and binds people together even after broken bonds feel irreparable. Maybe he got an inkling of that magic the moment of their first encounter, when she watched him with wide eyes after he burst through Shigure's ceiling right before that fateful hug. 

He glances up from scraping the last bits of food out of his bowl to see Tohru smiling at him. 

"What?" he asks, wondering if there's food on his face. 

"You look cute," she replies, echoing the same words he'd said to her earlier. 

He can feel the heat rise to his cheeks at the unexpected compliment. He mutters a thanks and takes his empty bowl to the sink to wash it. Maybe, he thinks, he'll never get used to the effect she has on his heart. 

He really does love her even if he can't always put it into words. But she knows this already. It's in the sparkle of her eyes and the satisfied curl of her lips as she slides up beside him at the sink to help with the dishes.

Tohru is only dressed up as a witch for the holiday, but he's absolutely certain his girlfriend is magic all year long.

**Author's Note:**

> The reference to vegetarian vampires eating tomatoes comes from a painting I have saved (but I have unfortunately forgotten the artist name). Just wanted to give credit. 
> 
> If y'all ever want to chat about Fruits Basket, feel free to say hi over at my Twitter @Notorious_HAT


End file.
